We went to the gendarmerie yesterday so that the other half could register for a postal vote. While I was waiting for her to complete the various bereaucratic convolutions required by the French state, I wandered across to the war memorial which is located just outside the police station. As usual for Brittany, there was a memorial to the local FFL resistance fighters and their supporters, many of whom were either killed in action or sent to concentration camps.
As I read down the list of names, however, I spotted one that stood out. This was a Major Ogden Smith, who obviously was not a local and was therefore an SOE agent of some sort. A bit of googling when we got back home and the story began to unfold in some detail:
A tragedy but very interesting nonetheless. I'm going to try to visit the grave in Querrien if I can next time we're here, to pay my respects and follow up the story. In the meantime, I'll be doing some more reading around the subject. I think there's a lot of potential in Operation Jedburgh for a start, especially as Peter Pig do some very nice 15mm French resistance figures.
It's many years since I visited Brittany but the Resistance Museum at the site of the only stand up battle between the FFI and the Germans in 1944 is well worth a trip.
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